Catscratch
by KitsuneButterfly
Summary: --OLD! Finished!-- Sam is kidnapped by a catlike ghost and a curse placed upon Danny. A kitty-Danny must save Sam to break the curse before time is up and Danny is a cat forever!
1. Chapter 1

Feline Marxx cackled and slashed at Danny Phantom, his claws slicing off a portion of Danny's sleeve, also causing some deep gashes in his arm.

"Okay, that's it," grumbled Danny. He blasted Feline Marxx and aimed the thermos at the downed feline-like ghost.

The ghost's eyes glowed as Danny sucked him into the thermos. "You won't forget me soon, boy..." growled Feline.

"Yeah, yeah," said Danny with a yawn. It was just past midnight, Danny was ready to call it a night and head home. As he flew homeward, he noticed that the container registered as 'full'. Danny sighed. "I'll empty it in the morning," he said with a yawn as he slipped into his bedroom by way of the wall.

Danny transformed and collapsed onto his bed without even bothering to change out of his jeans and t-shirt.

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During the night, the scratches Feline Marxx had inflicted began to glow an eerie red, which wasn't a good sign at all.

Soon the scratches disappeared, as did the glow, but what remained were three blood red scratches, all parallel to one another and oddly raised.

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Danny yawned and awoke. He sat up and scratched his head, when he did he found something very unexpected. Perched upon his head were two feline ears. Both were warm to the touch, and it hurt when he pinched them.

In a panic, he ran to his mirror so he could see the ears. They were large and white, and would flick every now and then. He clapped his hands to the place where normal human ears are located. He felt nothing but fuzzy flaps of skin that were a part of the cat ears.

"Oh crud," he groaned. He took one more look at the white ears that stuck strangely out of his black hair, then tried to flatten them against his head. Much to his surprise, he could flatten them without the use of his hands. He grabbed a baseball cap that was sitting on his desk. He then shoved it over the ears and prayed his hair covered the parts of the ear that weren't covered by his cap.

Danny ran downstairs to where his family was eating breakfast. He grabbed a piece of toast and said he had to meet Sam and Tucker early, then ran out the door. He hid behind some trash cans until Sam and Tucker came along, on their way to school.

"Pssst..." he hissed from behind the cans.

Sam looked over. "Danny?" she called.

Danny poked his head above the cans.

"Dude, what's with the cap?" laughed Tucker.

"Come here!" hissed Danny.

Sam and Tucker came around behind the garbage cans, and crouched beside Danny.

"Okay," he started, "I was out late last night, and I was fighting this ghost named Feline Marxx. I went home, and this morning I woke up with these..." he said, taking off the cap.

The ears popped up, and Sam blinked in surprise. "That could be a problem," she said.

"Ya think?" muttered Danny, replacing the cap.

"Dude... you have cat ears!" exclaimed Tucker.

"Shut up!" growled Danny. "Do you want everyone to know? I'm trying to keep this a secret."

Sam looked at Danny's eyes. "That's going to be a little harder than you thought," she said. "Your eyes are yellow."

Danny yelped. "What?! That's not good... they weren't like that this morning."

Tucker looked at Danny's hands, on which the nails had grown longer and sharper. "Uh-oh," he said. "Your nails are long and pointy."

Danny looked at them and groaned. "I'm dead..."

Tucker chuckled.

"What?" demanded Danny.

"You said you're dead.... and you're half ghost... okay, bad pun," said Tucker.

"How can you think of bad puns at a time like this?" asked Danny.

Before Tucker could reply, Sam spoke. "Hey Danny, what are these scratches on your arm?" she asked.

"Those?" said Danny, "I think Feline Marxx gave me those last night...."

Sam thought for a moment. "Maybe they're what's causing this strange transformation," she said.

Danny shrugged.

"We're going to be late for school if we don't hurry up," pointed out Tucker.

"Uh-oh," said Danny as a slight ripping sound was herd.

"What?' asked Sam.

"I think I grew a tail," he said as the white tail swished behind him.

Sam sighed. "Danny, you and Tucker stay here, I'll be right back."

She got out from behind the cans and ran down the street.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam returned a bit later carrying a box. She handed it to Danny, who opened it.

"What's all this for?" asked Danny as he pulled out a trench coat, a hat, some boots and gloves, and some sunglasses.

"You need to put those on just in case any other catlike parts start showing," she pointed out. "Even though we're going to be late, we're still going to school."

"What happens when I start growing fur?" Danny asked as he tugged on the new outfit.

"You're going to grow fur?" said Tucker.

"With the way this seems to be going, I might," grumbled Danny.

Sam sighed. "We'll worry about that later. Just hurry up so we can get going."

Danny finished putting on the outfit and stood up. The trench coat reached all the way to the ground. Danny buttoned it up a bit, so his tail wouldn't show. "Let's go," he said.

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At lunch, Tucker and Danny sat in the boy's bathroom. Sam stood on the opposite wall, watching the door and warning anyone who came by with any ideas about going in that Tucker ate the unidentifiable mass that the cafeteria called lasagna.

Danny peered into the mirror. His body was coated with white cat fur, and his feet and hands had become paws. His face was becoming more catlike by the minute, and he was shrinking slightly. He sighed. "This doesn't look good. I have to come out sometime, but I can't go out like this."

"Look, why don't you just transform and blow this joint?" asked Tucker.

"I can't do that," sighed Danny. "It wouldn't be right."

"Since when have you decided to do what's right when it comes to blowing off school for Phantom duties?" asked Tucker.

"Since now," said Danny. His face was completely feline, and he was level with Tucker's shoulder. His clothes were beginning to fall off as he shrank.

Soon, Danny was level with Tucker's knee and there was a flash of bright light.

When the light faded, there in Danny's place stood a white cat with black ear tips, paws, and tail tip. Around its neck was a black collar with a red oval dangling from it.

Tucker picked it up. "Danny?"

"Meow," said the cat boredly.

"OH NO HE'S SPEAKING CAT!" cried Tucker.

"Calm down," sighed Danny. "I can talk. And.... could you put me down? This is awkward. Even if I am a cat."

Tucker set Danny on the floor.

Danny took a few shaky steps on the floor before looking up to Tucker. "Okay, open the door- and don't forget my clothes."

Once the door was open, Danny walked out the door, followed by Tucker, who had stuffed his backpack with Danny's clothes.

Sam took one look at Danny and asked, "What are we going to do with you all day?"

"I know what you're going to do," said the voice of Mr. Lancer from behind Tucker. "You're going to spend the rest of the day in In-School Suspension, without the cat. You two know what the school's punishment is for letting stray animals in."

Sam and Tucker sighed as they were led off to In-School Suspension for the rest of the day.

Another teacher came and booted Danny out of the school.

Once he was outside, Danny made his way to and sat on the window sill outside the ISS room. He fell asleep there in the warm sunshine.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny was awakened by a tap between the shoulders. He awoke with a start and found himself looking at Tucker.

"Someone's jumpy," said Tucker.

Danny scowled. "I'm not jumpy. How would you feel if I suddenly woke you up from a nice nap?"

Sam sighed. "What are we going to do with you? You can't go home...." Then she perked up. "You can come with me. My parents always wanted me to get a pet. Tucker can say you're sleeping over at his house all weekend. Right, Tucker?"

Tucker nodded. "Whatever you say, Sam."

Sam picked up Danny and carried him off to her house.

When Danny and Sam walked away, Tucker left for his house.

Once Sam was home, her parents rushed over to her.

"Is that a cat?" inquired her mother.

Sam nodded.

Her mother reached out a hand to pet Danny, who submitted to the petting.

"He's a cute one. Not too black, either," commented Sam's mother.

"He'll have to be neutered," said her dad.

A look of sheer terror crossed Danny's feline face.

Sam's dad laughed. "He looks like he actually understands us," he chuckled.

_"More than you know,"_ thought Danny.

"Can I keep him?" begged Sam.

Her parents nodded and she ran up to her room, carrying Danny.

Sam set Danny on her bed and just looked at him. "So, you're a cat now. We need figure out how to change you back- before you get neutered."

Danny nodded. "That would be horrible," he said, trying not to think of that subject.

"Maybe we can ask this Feline Marxx ghost?" asked Sam.

Danny sighed. "How can we ask him when he's in the ghost zone? That thing is huge. It would take forever to find him."

Sam thought for a moment. "Did you forget to empty the thermos before going to bed?" she asked.

Danny considered this for a moment, then remembered. "It's full in my bedside table drawer. He was the last ghost in."

Sam nodded. "Okay, then if we empty it he'll be the first one out. That could be a good thing. That way we won't have to release any other ghosts to interview him."

"What makes you think he'll stick around for a few questions?" Danny asked.

"I don't know," sighed Sam. "We'll have to think of something-"

She was interrupted by her parents calling her- and Danny to supper.

Sam picked up Danny and headed down stairs, where there was a nice-sized supper spread out on a long table.

"What have you decided to name your cat?" asked Sam's mom.

Sam blinked. "His name is Da- Phantom," she said.

Her parents nodded. "We had some food prepared especially for Phantom."

Sam set Danny down in front of a large platter set on the floor. On the plate were some choice meats, mostly fish, and some potatoes and gravy.

Danny ate most of it, as much as he could hold. He felt somewhat grateful- he could have been eating Fancy Feast cat food.

Once Sam was finished, she took Danny back to her room, where they plotted until Sam announced she was tired, and went to change in the adjacent bathroom.

Danny waited quietly on the bed.

When Sam came out, she was wearing a black nightgown and her hair was down. She crawled beneath the sheets of her bed and she and Danny talked until she finally fell asleep in mid-sentence.

Danny curled up next to Sam and slept for a while. He awoke at three AM, knowing what he had to do.

He stood and padded softly over to the sleeping Sam. He placed both paws on her shoulders and looked into her face for a few seconds. "Sam..." he whispered as his head lowered to hers. He purred softly as his lips came into contact with hers. A kiss from a cat.

Danny stepped back and smiled slightly. Sam was still asleep. She would never know of his kiss, he meant it to be that way.

He leaped to the windowsill and nudged the window open just enough so he could get out. His first attempt at transforming ended in the white rings fizzling out an disappearing. The second time was perfect. He was now a cat version of Danny phantom.

Danny's body had changed from white to black, and the parts of him that had been black were now white. His collar was now white, with the DP symbol hanging off of it. He flew out the window and made his way to his house.

He got in by becoming intangible, then he began tugging at his bedside drawer. Once it was open, he took the thermos and disappeared down to the lab.

The lab was empty for the night when Danny entered. He set the thermos on a table and pressed the release button until Feline Marxx was out, all but his tail tip. With the thermos still holding Marxx, Danny could question him all he liked without fear that the feline villain would run off.

"How do I change back?" demanded Danny.

"Do you think I'm going to tell you?" said Marxx.

"Tell me NOW." demanded Danny, pointing a random device at Marxx.

Feline Marxx sighed. "I won't tell you how until you can complete my challenge."

"Challenge?" inquired Danny.

Marxx nodded. "I will take something you love dearly, and you will have two days to find me in the ghost zone to reclaim your precious item. If you can do that in two days, I will tell you."

"What if I don't let you out?" asked Danny.

"Silly creature, you only have four days until you are a cat forever. I am the only one who knows how to change you back. If you do not let me out, you will remain a cat for the rest of you life."

"Say I do let you out- what if I don't find my precious item in two days?" inquired Danny.

"If you don't find your item, it will be returned unharmed, but you will remain a cat-"

"For all eternity, I know," finished Danny.

After a few moments of debating, much against Danny's better judgment, he let Feline Marxx out.

Before Marxx disappeared into the portal, he told Danny one last thing. "Expect your precious item to be gone when you awake in the morning."

Danny sighed and flew off back to Sam's, where he curled up next to her warm body.


	4. Chapter 4

Sunlight filtered through the curtains, which flapped in the wind. Danny opened his eyes and raised his head. Sam was gone, and the sheets were still ruffled as if there was someone sleeping in them. Then he remembered last night. Panic shot through him. Was Sam the precious thing that was taken from him?

Danny leaped from the bed and nosed Sam's door open. Once he was out, he ran around the house, checking every room for any signs of Sam.

When he made it into the living room, he was spotted by Sam's mom, who was reading the newspaper. "Does kitty need to go to the bathroom?" she asked, before picking up Danny and plopping him out the door and into the back yard.

"Thank you Mrs. Manson," muttered Danny as he jumped behind a bush, just in case someone was watching from the window. He transformed behind the bush, then phased through the fence by becoming intangible. He flew to Tucker's house.

"Tucker," called Danny, who was perched on Tucker's headboard, trying to wake the other boy up. "Tucker!"

Tucker yelped and sat up.

"Tucker," growled Danny. "Shut up and listen,"

"But I didn't say any-" started Tucker.

Danny hissed. "Quiet! I found out how I can change back- and that if I don't change back in four days, I'm a cat forever. We have to go find Feline Marxx in the ghost zone. He has Sam."

"Why did you let him take Sam?!" exclaimed Tucker.

"I didn't know he would take Sam," sighed Danny. "He said he would take something I love dearly. I guess... it was Sam.." Danny looked down at his paws, then set his determined gaze forward. "We have to go, now," he said.

"But how are we going to get into your basement without getting caught?" asked Tucker.

"Leave it to me," said Danny, eyes glowing with eagerness.

The pair left Tucker's without any problems, and once they were at Danny's house, Tucker hid in some bushes.

Danny ecto-blasted a window, causing it to shatter.

Jack and Maddie appeared in the doorway, their haste to open it had almost knocked it off the hinges.

"GHOOOOOOST!" cried Jack, setting his blaster upon the Danny-cat sitting on their doorstep.

The blaster made a whirring sound as it charged, preparing to unleash ecto-energy on Danny.

Danny gave them a cheesy grin and waved a paw. "Um... Meow?" he said, then set off down the street.

As planned, his parents chased him, and Tucker sneaked in. Jas was nowhere to be found.

Once Danny had given his parents the slip, he appeared in the lab next to Tucker.

"While they're gone, let's grab the Spectre Speeder and go," said Danny.

He and Tucker hopped into the Speeder, and Danny sat on the control panel, pushing buttons. "Hang on, Tucker," he said.

The portal opened and the Speeder shot forward.

"You stay in here and be looking around. I'll go outside and take a closer look," he said as he disappeared through the side of the Speeder.

Danny looked at his partial map of the ghost zone. "If he's not in any of these parts... he has to be somewhere out here," sighed Danny, looking at all the blank spaces on the map.

Danny poked his head back into the Speeder. "Follow me," he said.

Tucker nodded.

Danny flew off into the unknown, the Speeder right behind him.

Late that night, the Speeder pulled back into the Fenton's lab.

Danny sighed as he climbed out. "We've mapped a lot of the ghost zone today, but we didn't find Sam or Feline Marxx..." said Danny.

Tucker looked at Danny. "Tough break. There's always tomorrow." Then his stomach rumbled. "Um... we haven't eaten all day. Danny, I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

Danny nodded. "I'm hungry, too. We might have some food in our fridge...."

"Not the ham," groaned Tucker.

"No, not ham," muttered Danny. He led Tucker into the kitchen sat in front of the refrigerator, waiting for Tucker to open it.

Once Tucker opened the fridge, Danny hopped in and began digging around all the plates of leftovers and some strange experiments that had gotten stuffed in.

Danny nosed around until he found some good items, which he pointed out to Tucker. When they had finished going through the fridge they had come up with: 1 unopened package of hot dogs, 4 cups of assorted chocolate and vanilla pudding, 6 cans of soda, 3 sticks of beef jerky, and some carrots.

Danny led Tucker outside, phasing the other boy and their food through the wall. Once they were outside, Danny sighed and looked around. "Well... where are we going to sleep? We can't go back to your house... you're supposed to be sleeping over at mine..."

"The park?" suggested Tucker.

"Good idea," said Danny, and the pair headed to the park.

Once they were there, Danny sighed and jumped up onto a park bench. He blinked and looked down at his paws.

"Pudding?" asked Tucker, pushing an opened cup to Danny.

Danny smiled slightly. "Want me to cook those hot dogs?"

Tucker nodded.

Danny hopped down and gathered some dried leaves and twigs and set them in front of the bench. He fired a tiny blast at the pile, causing it to catch fire.

Tucker snapped off a branch and stuck some of the hot dogs on it. He held it over Danny's fire.

Once the hot dogs were finished, he gave three to Danny, who ate them eagerly. He ate the rest of the package himself.

The pair decided to save the jerky, the carrots, 3 cans of soda, and two of the pudding cups.

Danny ate his pudding cup, and lapped up a fair amount of soda with the help of Tucker before curling up and falling asleep on the ground beneath the bench.

Tucker soon fell asleep too, curled up on the bench.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Danny and Tucker pulled the same cat-trick as the day before to get Maddie and Jack out of the house.

They climbed into the Speeder and Danny looked at the map of the Ghost Zone. "I know where to go," he said, then pointed to a blank spot on the map.

"How do you know where to go? That's a blank spot," said Tucker.

"I had a dream," said Danny, punching a button on the control panel.

The Speeder shot forward at full speed, until Danny punched the button again and the Speeder screeched to a halt.

"We're here," announced Danny, looking at the structure before them. It resembled a palace of some sort, huge and elegant.

Danny and Tucker got out of the Speeder walked up the stone path to the door. Danny whacked the door a few times, then called out, "Feline Marxx! I made it in two days, I'm here to reclaim Sam!"

The doors opened to reveal a large, elegantly furnished hall and a creature much resembling Feline Marxx, but with a differently styled body and pelt.

"Sir Danny," said the creature, looking down at Danny. "And friend," he said, looking at Tucker, "Follow me, Lord Marxx was expecting you."

Danny and Tucker followed the cat down numerous flights of stairs until they came to a room with a strange green-glowing pool swirling at one end where the floor just dropped off.

Feline Marxx emerged from the shadows and walked up to Danny. "Boy," he said, looking down at Danny.

"Where's Sam!" demanded Danny.

Marxx clapped his hands and some torches came on, illuminating Sam. "But wait, boy. Remember. This was only the challenge. It is now that I tell you how you can become human again."

Danny growled. "Tell me," he hissed.

Marxx cleared his throat. "There has to be a sacrifice. A human sacrifice."

Danny gulped.

"Yes, a human female, the one you treasure oh so much," continued Marxx. "She will be thrown into my little pool, then you will change back."

"...and if I don't let you throw her in...?" inquired Danny.

"I do it anyway," said Feline Marxx with a wicked grin. "You become human weather you like it or not." Marxx shot a look to his sevants, who dragged an unconscious Sam over to the waters. "Restrain them!" called Marxx, and three creatures came over to hold Danny and Tucker back.

On Marxx's signal, Sam was dumped into the pool.

Once Sam hit the pool, Danny began growing. He was full height when Sam disappeared beneath the glowing green waters.

The cats released him, and he ran to the edge of the pool.

"Sam!" he cried, kneeling at the edge of the pool. He peered in, Sam was barely visible beneath what was dragging her down- the souls of the other women that had been sacrificed. "No!" he growled, diving in.

Feline Marxx howled. "Noooo! That's not supposed to happen!" he cried, tugging at his facial fur.

Danny fought through the souls to get to Sam, who was quickly being dragged to the bottom, where Danny could barely make out the shapes of the bones that littered the bottom.

He reached out his hand to grab Sam, but the souls tore her away.

Danny snarled and blasted all the souls in sight, then reached through the water and got a firm grasp on Sam's hand. He pulled her close, only to find that her body was growing cold. She was dying.

"Sam..." he murmured, feeling the bubbles escape his mouth. He was running out of air. Both of them would die down here. "If we're going to go down..." he thought. Another thought crossed his mind at that same moment. "I'm human again..."

He lowered his head and his lips touched Sam's. Much to Danny's surprise, both of them glowed with a pure white light. Memories of Sam flashed through Danny's mind as his eyes closed and everything grew quiet.


	6. Chapter 6

"... Danny.... Danny.... Danny.... Danny...." voices echoed inside his head.

Danny stirred slightly.

"Danny...." came a soft voice.

Danny's eyes opened. He saw Sam, standing above him. Her face showed concern.

"Danny!" she cried. "You're finally awake!"

"Wha... woah... What happened?" asked Danny, sitting up.

"I don't know," said Tucker. "You two were glowing, and floated out of the pool, and then you lay on the floor.... Feline Marxx got some of his cats to take you out here. He thought you both were dead. I mean- I did, too. You were all glowy and stuff, then when you were in the Speeder you stopped glowing. Then Sam woke up.... and here we are," finished Tucker.

"Wow," said Danny. "The last thing I remembered was..." he trailed off, his face turning a dark pinkish color.

"What?" asked Sam.

"....it's nothing," said Danny. "Let's head home."

Sam sighed.

Tucker started the Speeder.

"Sam... I..." started Danny.

She looked at him.

Danny sighed.

"Look, just say you love her and get it over with," said Tucker. He was immediately hit with a random gadget.

"Danny, thanks for saving me," said Sam.

"Um... you're welcome," said Danny.

"Doesn't the goth princess get a kiss from her knight in shining armor, or in your case, spandex?" inquired Sam, a teasing look on her face.

"Okay," said Danny, taking her words seriously, although he knew she was just joking. Danny scooted closer to her, then wrapped his arms around a shocked-looking Sam. Then he did what he had wanted to do for so long- kiss her, and have her know he did.

Tucker chanced a look back just after Danny's 'okay'. He turned his eyes quickly forward, deciding to give the lovebirds a moment alone.

Once they broke apart, Danny and Sam sat silently beside each other, both thinking their own thoughts.

Soon, the Speeder pulled into the Fenton's lab. Much to everyone's relief, the lab was empty.

Danny became invisible and looked out the door, to see if his parents were anywhere near. He didn't see them downstairs, but he herd loud bangings and crashings coming from upstairs. He became visible again and motioned for Sam and Tucker to follow him.

All three exited the lab and walked right out the front door.

Once they were outside, Sam asked them a question. "How exactly did you two keep all of our parents from worrying?"

"Well..." said Tucker, "We said Danny was sleeping at my house when he was gone, then I told my parents I was staying over at Danny's when we both were gone, and we told your parents you were at a sleepover with Paulina. Your parents were thrilled."

"Paulina?!" demanded Sam. "Couldn't you have come up with something better than PAULINA?"

Danny and Tucker shook their heads.

Sam sighed. "Whatever. I'm just glad to be back. By the way... are any of you hungry?"

The two boys nodded.

"Nasty Burgers on me," said Sam, starting down the street toward the restaurant.

"Alright!" cried Tucker and Danny, following her.


End file.
